Work of heart: PennDOT engineers proud of Seventh Street Bridge

Friday

Dec 14, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 14, 2012 at 9:22 AM

As a kid, Darren LePage built things with Legos, popsicle sticks, toothpicks — just about anything he could find. He built forts using rocks and any excess wood he could get from home. LePage is the construction engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in charge of the Seventh Street Bridge project.

As a kid, Darren LePage built things with Legos, popsicle sticks, toothpicks — just about anything he could find. He built forts using rocks and any excess wood he could get from home.

"Dad would be looking for some of it, and it would be by the river down the hill from my house," LePage said.

Now he builds bridges and roads.

LePage is the construction engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in charge of the Seventh Street Bridge project.

The bridge will open Monday, nearly on the planned completion date set 18 months ago.

It's not just a feat of engineering but a symphony of workers, hundreds of them performing on cue to produce a working piece of art.

The clean-cut 42-year-old Penn State graduate radiated excitement as he described the process of building the bridge.

It's an undertaking he and Project Manager Tony Zaloga, 49, called "moderate to difficult."

"You have Interstate 80 underneath, you have wetlands, the McMichael Creek, environmental issues and a small footprint for the workforce to maneuver around," LePage said.

The designers tried to maintain the feel of the old bridge.

Solid, carved parapet mimics the open-slotted one it replace. A wrought iron fence sits atop the parapet, surrounding old-world street lanterns that preserve the historical feel of the structure.

"It's amazing to stand here and look at it, all the people, hard work and sweat, the hot days and cold ones," LePage said.

"There's a feeling of accomplishment when a project comes out well," Zaloga added.

The charismatic LePage plays Butch Cassidy to Zaloga's Sundance Kid — a gunslinger, who stands amid a flurry of bullets and calmly picks off his targets, one by one.

You have to be "level-headed, objective, open-minded to do this job," Zaloga said.

LePage motioned toward Zaloga.

"He's everything he said. There are days I don't know how he does it. Tony was made for this."

The project had between 60 and 80 separate "activities" that could sometimes be performed in parallel. But some tasks had to be completed before the next could start.

"The big word is 'details,'" LePage said. "So many tedious details that go into this. You always have to look going forward to what's next. Our job is to keep the project moving on schedule."

Teamwork, they agreed, made the job a success.

"The contractor (J.D. Eckman) had a great deal to do with the success of the bridge. They had the manpower," Zaloga said. "Eckman didn't stop and brought the resources."

The contractor accommodated local businesses when the company agreed to delay the start of the project by two weeks.

It didn't want to shut the bridge during the Memorial Day weekend or the NASCAR festival, putting community before its own convenience.

Weather didn't stop Eckman either. Eckman had workers on the job the day Hurricane Sandy smashed through the area.

In fact, Mother Nature was the most difficult issue to deal with, Zaloga said.

Heavy rain caused McMichael Creek to overflow several times, flooding the work area during critical stages.

The job required crews to sling 105-ton, 156-foot-long beams across both the interstate and creek onto piers set below.

The beams were so long they had to be transported by attaching wheels to the beams' front and rear ends.

Yet in the 45,000 man hours required for the project (the equivalent of one person working for more than 22 years), there wasn't a single injury that led to a lost day of work.

Remarkable.

"Not only do we open this beautiful bridge in a good time but in a safe manner," LePage said. "We are very thankful for that. Every time these guys go home from work it's an accomplishment. It's a good day."

The project served as a source of entertainment for some.

Zaloga said this job, like every job they did, had what they called "sidewalk superintendents," one or two local people who like to watch the project go up.

And you know that old adage that they don't make 'em like they used to? Apparently that doesn't apply to bridges.

"The standards are higher now," LePage said. "This bridge will outlive us all."

The Seventh Street Bridge may be a just a convenience to most of us, a quick way to get from here to there.

But under its concrete and steel lie the pride, sweat and heart of those who see a part of their own legacies.